Prisoners of VR

"Dammit!"

"Why the fuck did I have to remember her?" His heart rate was rapid and his chest felt constricted, making it hard to breathe. His face was scrunched up, having dreamt about his past experience.

If he had to comment about his childhood, there was just one word: Horrible.

From the day he was born, he was compared to his older brother, Manav, a genius in everything. His parents were egoistical elites that were fabled among the intellectual society comprising the global scale.

So, even their baseline expectations towards their children were at a level hard for most adults to reach even by the end of their lives. And of course, Manav maintained and at times, even exceeded their expectations.

It made his parents take things for granted that their child was born with their combined intellect. Unfortunately, Rahu couldn't be that. He was always a disappointment in their eyes.

To be frank, Rahu could be labelled a genius. After all, the fact that he became a DOVA Agent was enough proof that his brain was one of the best his country could offer, at the peak of humanity.

Moreover, even among DOVA Agents, he was an elite. But when compared to Manav, he was lacklustre.

The constant comparison from childhood cast an overarching shadow on him, unable to break free of the chains that Manav cast with his sheer brilliance.

On the day Manav died, his parents were devastated. But in contrast, Rahu was relieved. After all, for the first time in his life, the shadow blanking him out vanished, allowing him to finally bask in the sun.

He finally felt free. Without his parents constantly comparing him to Manav, Rahu could happily brush and train his talents, allowing him to shine better than before.

But the recent events plunged him back into the depths of the talent pit. Manav's physical body might have died but he, as a sentient being, still lived on.

Moreover, using the time flow in Virtual Worlds, Manav had been polishing his abilities there further. He was dead for six years. But that also equated to six decades in a Virtual World.

Even the young Manav was terrifying. So, Rahu couldn't even fathom the monster of intellect that Manav had transformed into after six decades of accumulation.

'No, I need to inform the rest about him.' Thinking as such, Rahu closed his eyes and entered Virtual Reality.

He appeared in an empty room of his Virtual Space and requested a communication channel with the six other DOVA Agents that possessed the ultimate secret.

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[Code I: Manav Sastry is alive as a digital being. He's somehow able to manifest out of civilian uVR Earths.]

His message seemed to have stirred up the others as shadows appeared in the room one after another.

[Code L: How did he unleash Induced Reality through a civilian uVR Earth? It's not even equipped to unleash it.]

[Code I: I can't understand it either.]

[Code R: Is he strong?]

[Code I: I'll upload my interaction with him.]

Saying so, Rahu uploaded a video of him facing Manav, from start to finish when the youth's head exploded.

[Code Y: Damn he's strong.]

[Code A: Hold on, Liger. I'll visit India once I free up my schedule. I can destroy Manav.]

[Code I: No, that's dangerous. If you take action, the entire world's attention would fall on this and further elevate the value of the Secret. It'll only make our lives harder.]

[Code A: Someone that can threaten me hasn't been born yet.]

[Code T: Leaving this arrogant fellow aside, what's your plan, Liger? The fact that Manav challenged you to face him at Worldcraft can only mean one thing.]

[Code Y: Is Megasphere planning to release the Secret through Worldcraft?]

[Code I: I don't think that's Megasphere's intention. The goal of Pomegranate Corporation was only to create a large-scale Virtual World that's closest to reality. Whether or not the Secret is released is still dependent on our decision. I think that's why we were given the Synchro Codes.]

[Code A: The fact that Manav managed to figure out the Secret is impressive. But without the Synchro Codes, none of his plans would come to fruition. Without the supercomputer used by Megasphere, it would take even him more than a millennium to deduce and derive all seven Synchro Codes.]

[Code L: So, we'll be targeted by him, huh?]

[Code I: There's one more issue. Recently, a DOVA Agent attacked me. I subdued him. He's named Rakshat Gupta, but he's not on records. His uVR Earth belongs to Talgat Musabayev, a Kazakhstan DOVA Agent.]

[Code R: That's pretty messed up. I have a friendly relationship with the Kazakhstan Government. I'll look into this and see what's up with the stolen uVR Earth.]

[Code A: It seems Manav figured out a method to swap uVR Earths of even DOVA Agents, huh? That's interesting. Now I need to find him.]

[Code R: Don't be reckless. You were Manav's comrade before. You know how terrifying his abilities are. Don't confront him just to satisfy your greed.]

[Code A: Had I been as weak as you, I would be worried too. But I'm not you. Manav needs to rely on the brains of weak people to affect reality. Unless he finds someone whose brain is on par with mine, which is impossible, he would never be my match.]

'They started fighting again.' Rahu sighed as he told everyone to remain alert and disconnected the Virtual Communication. 'Their egos are bigger than the countries they come from.'

The ultimate secret deduced by Megasphere was split into seven fragments, named Synchro Codes. Only when combined would it be possible to unleash the effects of the Secret. To date, none among the seven leaked anything regarding the Synchro Codes.

After all, egoistical as they might be, everyone understood the value and implications attached to the Secret.

"Humanity just isn't ready for that." Rahu sighed. He tried to get up but groaned in pain.

"Sir! You're finally awake!" Deepika heard his groan and rushed into the ward, relieved upon seeing him, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Rahu said and sat up with her help, "I've simply overtaxed my abilities."

"Just...what happened there?" Deepika asked, trembling upon recalling the gruesome scene. "How could someone's head burst like that? There was no ammunition to result in such an explosion."

'His brain generated enough power to unleash Induced Reality that the fluid in the organ evaporated. The generated spike in pressure caused his head to explode.' Rahu thought of the answer immediately, shaking his head as he stared at Deepika, "You needn't know. It would only put your life at risk."

'If she begins to investigate Manav, he'll kill her immediately. As long as she's only in charge of protecting me, he won't go out of his way to target her.' Rahu had a good idea of Manav's nature. Keeping Deepika ignorant was for her best.

Even he wasn't equipped enough to face Manav, so it was best to keep collateral damage to a minimum.

"What will you say to the media then?" Deepika sighed at his response but didn't take it to heart, simply assuming it was beyond her pay grade. She stared at him in worry, "They are accusing you of murder."

"What did the forensic report state?" Rahu asked next, "Did any of you stay with the Forensic Department to ensure the report isn't tampered with?"

"Ashok is overseeing it." Deepika nodded, "The report will be out soon."

She then looked around the room and asked, "Sir, why does it still feel like I'm being eyed by a predator?"

"Eh?" Rahu swerved his head to the side and observed the figure of the Liger sleeping beside the bed. Since he was the target of Induced Reality, only he could see it.

Normally, it was his defence mechanism. It had activated before during the previous day too when he was unconscious while communicating with Suraj in his Virtual Space. That was why the duo acting as Suraj's parents couldn't approach him.

After all, if they did, the Liger would kill them.

Once the Liger attained the state of Passive Sentience, it could come out and observe the real world on its own. When Rahu's uVR Earth unleashed Induced Reality on himself, it could come out. This was his defensive mechanism, one that had saved him in countless situations.

Usually, only when someone stared at Rahu would they notice the Liger. If their gaze was somewhere else, they wouldn't even sense its existence, not to mention see it.

But somehow, when Rahu was subjected to his worst fears through Manav, his Liger seemed to have evolved slightly, absorbing the stimulus generated by his brain. Through it, the Liger was able to unleash Induced Reality at a partial scale.

Only its bloodthirst was unleashed radially, targeting the ones in its vicinity. Even though more people were targeted, since only its bloodthirst was unleashed, the consumed brain power was lower than usual.

Moreover, the Liger didn't emerge in reality. So, even the doctors and nurses that came to treat him couldn't see the Liger. All they felt was the brunt of its bloodthirst.

"Man, the irony." Once he observed his Liger, Rahu smiled wryly, "I succeeded in evolving my Induced Reality after getting beaten up."

"What do you mean by that, Sir?" Deepika asked in confusion, wondering what Rahu was on about now. He seemed distracted and continued to murmur to himself.

"Leave me alone for an hour." Rahu waved his hands casually, "Once I gather myself, I'll contact you."

"Don't tell the others that I'm awake yet."

"I'll do as you say," Grumbling in response, Deepika left the ward.

Rahu extended his hand and patted the Liger's head, watching it purr in response, "Was he scary?"

Seeing it nod in response, he hugged it lightly, "But at least, you have attained the final stage."

Induced Reality had four stages in total: 3D Avatar, Sentience, Passive Sentience, and finally, True Lifeform.

The 3D Avatar stage was when the 3D Model was just created. It wasn't qualified to unleash Induced Reality. The target would only feel that it was a projection.

The stage of Sentience was when the Avatar could think on its own like a living creature. It was at this stage that it was registered as a 'Real Creature' in the minds of the target.

Following this was the stage of Passive Sentience where the Avatar could use Induced Reality on its own. From here on, the Avatar could use a part of his brain to perform its tasks.

Finally, there was the peak of Induced Reality, a stage where the user and Avatar became one. With all their senses connected, they could interchange their bodies, allowing for varied perspectives to exist.

The reason this stage was named True Lifeform was due to one fact: At this stage, the Avatar could give birth.